If you’ve ever gotten a professional massage in order to get some back pain relief but can’t afford to go all the time then foam roller massage therapy might be exactly what you need. The benefits that your body receives during a deep tissue massage can be easily replicated with the regular use of the right kind of foam roller.
Foam Roller Massage Therapy For Back Pain Relief
Most types of pains in your body can be attributed to the band of connective tissue that attaches, stabilizes, encloses, and separates your muscles and internal organs, called fascia, becoming weakened or immobile. When tissue connecting your muscles doesn’t allow for very good range of movement then knots begin to form and muscle fibers bind to muscles and nerves, inhibiting motion and causing pain.
Foam rolling allows you to target areas on your body that are tight or are causing you pain and release the fibers through what is called Self Myofascial Release (SMR). Since you are basically giving yourself a deep tissue massage each time that you foam roll, the benefits that your muscles and body will feel are going to make you wonder why it took you so long to invest in a foam roller.
5 Benefits Of Foam Rolling
1. Increases flexibility and range of motion while adding strength.
If your muscles are tight or you aren’t very flexible then foam rolling will loosen and break up the fascia giving your muscles more range of motion. When you are able to stretch your muscles further there is more space in your muscles for elastic energy to build up allowing for more force to be generated when using your muscles in sports or a vinyasa yoga practice that requires a lot of strength for advanced poses like handstands and arm balances. Your back muscles will also loosen up and your flexibility will increase dramatically, especially if done before you stretch or workout.
2. Strengthens connective tissue.
Fascia is being added and connected to our muscles and internal organs throughout our body everyday whether we like it or not. If you have recently experienced trauma to one of your muscles or are recovering from a workout then this new fascia is being laid on top of weakened or injured tissue.
Foam rolling allows you to work out these knots that might have formed due to the muscle fibers being twisted or damaged and breaks up the fascia so it can start to strengthen and heal.
3. Breaks up scar tissue and rehabilitates chronic pains or injuries.
If you’re like me then you have had years of injuries and muscle strains that have built up layers upon layers of scar tissue in your body causing chronic pains. If this is the case then foam rolling on its own is going to provide some relief but you are really going to need to include a regular yoga practice if you want to get deep in your body to the root cause of the pain.
Yoga will open up the spots in your body that are causing you chronic pain and foam rolling will heal the scar tissue by closing the space with healthy fascia.
If your pain is as bad as my chronic low back pain due to sciatica was when I started practicing yoga then there are going to be a lot of changes going on in your back throughout this process. You are basically trying to heal the pains in your body layer by layer until you get all the way back to the original injury that caused it all.
4. Increases blood flow.
Foam rolling, just like a deep tissue massage, has the ability to pinpoint certain muscles and apply pressure that will release tension in the muscle.
If the muscles in your back are always tight and knotted then you probably aren’t getting very good blood flow to the rest of your body which can cause high blood pressure. Regularly foam rolling will loosen these muscles up and allow for better circulation.
5. Reduces stress.
A lot of people hold tension in their necks and backs due to sitting in a chair or hunched over a computer screen for the majority of their day. This stress in our necks and back can lead to tension headaches and cause muscle spasms in our body.
Foam rolling gives you the ability to release the tension in your back and neck and reduce stress overall.
Back Pain Relief With Yoga And SMR
As previously shown, foam rolling by itself can be a great in a lot of ways but only with a regular yoga practice can you really start to heal the root cause of your back pain and find long-term relief.
Consistently moving your body and putting it in positions that strengthen the core and increases flexibility is key to relieving chronic back pain.
If you’re ready to get started on the path to a life free from pain then it’s time to start a regular yoga practice and get ready to feel the best you’ve ever felt in a long time. After only a little more than a year of regular practice combined with daily foam rolling I have been able to dig through and heal almost 15 years of chronic low back pain.
All it takes is the decision to start and then you just have to stick with it and you to can finally know what real back pain relief feels like.
How could foam rolling help with your back pain?
Stick With It!
You are so right when you say that the foam roller relieves back pain. We use the foam roller sometimes at the end of our Pilates sessions to roll out all our tight muscles. Although this is sometimes painful, especially for me along the outer leg, it really helps to loosen and relax the muscles. My back feels great after doing this, especially the upper back roll.
I think if people did this daily there would be a lot less aches and pains in the body, especially as we get older, and the muscles get tighter.
I love foam rolling my tight muscles after a hard workout! Since I have issues with back pain I’ll spend 5-10 minutes rolling just my back. More people should definitely add foam rolling to their lives, even if they don’t workout – it just feels great! Thanks for the comment!
Hey man,
I really like to foam roll because I feel that it does great to my body. After I workout it feels really good to stretch out the muscles.
When I am stressed it helps me relieve the stress and makes me feel better. It is great to foam roll everyday. I do it two times a day and it works!
Hey Emmanuel!
That’s awesome that you foam roll twice a day! It’s amazing how good a 10 or 15 minute foam roll session can really loosen up your muscles and make them feel good.
Thanks for the comment!
Ok when I first came to this site I was like hmm foam roller. Maybe a type of handheld item you use to get out aches and pains. But then as I’m reading and scroll down a little. I see an image of a women. Who’s body is twisted and folded like a pretzel. I became never out at that point. Like no way this can’t be an actual thing. So I read on and I have discovered more than I ever would if I would’ve excited off this page. I’m glad I stayed I’m glad I read the entire post and I can say that this helped me out tremendously.
Thank you so much.
I’m glad you were able to find the post helpful!
Foam rolling has been one of the best things that I’ve done for my recovery time in between workouts, especially for my lower back and hamstrings. You obviously won’t be as flexible as the girl in the picture who has her body in a pretzel but it definitely helps your muscles recover which allows for positions to become accessible that might have been impossible before.
Thanks for the comment!